A SUPPORT group is being set up for people who feel they have encountered a bad experience at Lister Hospital. Karen Bish, of Mackenzie Square, Stevenage, and Gill Tierney, a former Stevenage resident, have founded the group after both recently losing lov

A SUPPORT group is being set up for people who feel they have encountered a bad experience at Lister Hospital.

Karen Bish, of Mackenzie Square, Stevenage, and Gill Tierney, a former Stevenage resident, have founded the group after both recently losing loved ones.

Mrs Bish's mother died after she contracted MRSA when she was admitted into Lister with a broken leg.

Mrs Tierney's father died two days after he was released from Lister, after a nine week stay in the hospital. Mrs Tierney alleges he died as a result of malnutrition.

She said: "We would like people to get in touch if they have had, or are having, problems with the hospital. If we can get together as a group and air our views then maybe we will have a little more sway. We want to get a bit more power to our elbow."

She added: "We are not a vigilante group. We will listen to people and then we will go to the hospital together."

Mrs Bish said: "Mainly we want to give each other support. For people like me, it's helpful to talk. There may be people out there who have no one to talk to. We want to support them."

The pair met after Mrs Tierney read a recent article in The Comet about the death of Mrs Bish's mother, and she wrote to Mrs Bish.

Mrs Tierney said: "You feel as though you are on your own but, when Karen and I sat and talked, we realised we were feeling the same thing. We have very similar experiences."

Mrs Bish added: "It's helped because she feels the same as I do."

If you would like to contact the support group, write to: Gill Tierney at 11 Osney Avenue, Paignton, TQ4 5HA or Karen Bish at 16 Mackenzie Square, Stevenage, SG2 9TT.